The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) has launched a new Business Practice Portal designed for business practitioners working to implement respect for human rights in companies all around the world. It offers free access to concrete examples of practice, case studies and insights drawn from GBI members’ experience.
Over the past nine years, GBI members have worked together to advance implementation of respect for human rights in their companies by learning from each other – sharing ideas, experiences, tools and insights. We’ve learned the value of working together. It helps achieve better outcomes, faster.
We’ve created the Business Practice Portal to share examples of GBI members’ practices – and lessons learned – with business practitioners around the world. This is not about leading practice, it’s about learning by doing. Each company finds its own path to implement respect for human rights, taking steps that work in its operating context and with its organisational culture.
By building on each other’s learning – about what works and what doesn’t – we can all progress faster. Accordingly, the Business Practice Portal is focused on insights from practice. By business, for business.
Ron Popper, Co-Chair, GBI, says: “Opportunities for business practitioners to learn from each other are critical to the success of efforts to advance respect for human rights. That means businesses talking the language of business to each other – exchanging dilemmas, opportunities, problems and solutions in a way that can be readily understood by other businesses. The Business Practice Portal has tremendous potential to support peer learning.”
Bruce Klafter, Vice President, Environmental and Social Responsibility, Flex, explains: “It’s incredibly helpful to understand how other companies have accomplished what they have and, very importantly, what were the pitfalls and issues along the way. There’s no manual on how to implement the UN Guiding Principles, we’re all finding our own way forwards. Being able to learn from the experiences of others really helps us progress faster, building on what works and avoiding what doesn’t.”
Catie Shavin, Director, GBI observes: “Everywhere we go, we hear business practitioners asking where they can access examples of other companies’ practices. It’s a critical gap in the resources available to individuals and teams working to advance implementation of respect for human rights in companies around the world. The Business Practice Portal creates an exciting opportunity to begin to bridge that gap by sharing online the know-how accumulated by GBI, where it can be accessed by practitioners everywhere.”
For more information, contact: Catie Shavin, Director, GBI | [email protected]